Tag: radicalisation

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The Euro-Arab Foundation, Member of the Research Secretariat on Ideologies and Conspiracy Narratives of the EU Knowledge Hub

The EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation, a European Commission knowledge center, decided in June 2024 to create seven thematic panels composed of experts from research, academia, security, and politics who deal with extremism and radicalisation. These panels began operating in February 2025, collaborating to exchange ideas, share experiences, and develop concrete recommendations for EU member states.

One of these panels is Thematic Panel 1 on Ideologies and Conspiracy Narratives, which is co-led by two experts and focuses on understanding extremist ideologies, including new hybrid or fragmented ones, and the role of conspiracy theories in the radicalisation process. The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies is part of the Research Secretariat of this panel through Isabel Pérez Pérez, Communication Manager of the Foundation’s Department of Research and International Projects. Pérez uses her academic and professional experience in journalism to identify and dismantle extreme, conspiratorial, or manipulative ideologies, collaborating in institutional and academic forums to promote fairer, more critical, and less vulnerable narratives against hate and propaganda.

Addressing Radicalization and Conspiracy Narratives

Radicalisation is a complex process where individuals or groups adopt radical ideologies that justify violent or terrorist acts to achieve political goals or expand their ideology. In the EU, radicalisation has recently taken on connotations of hybrid, fragmented, or mixed ideologies, posing greater challenges to understanding their dynamics, origins, and evolution.

The Thematic Panel on Ideologies and Conspiracy Narratives analyzes how radical narratives spread digitally, their influence on recruiting and mobilising individuals, especially vulnerable youth, and examines threats such as jihadism, right-wing extremism, leftist tendencies, and viral conspiracy theories. Its key objectives include building an inventory of radical and conspiratorial narratives, identifying vulnerability factors, proposing effective preventive strategies, and defining legal and public policy frameworks to counteract these ideologies within EU member states.

So far, the Panel has held two meetings in May and July 2025, addressing topics such as how and why minors and youth are attracted to extremist ideologies, and the nexus between organized crime and extremism (how ideologies and conspiracy theories fuel the symbiotic relationship between crime and extremism).

The results of these meetings are publicly available on the thematic panel’s website.

https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/networks/eu-knowledge-hub-prevention-radicalisation/thematic-panels/thematic-panel-1-ideologies-and-conspiracy-narratives_en

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Conference on Youth and Violent Extremism Addresses Trends from the Local Level

The Centre d’Estudis Jurídics i Formació Especialitzada (CEJFE) has organised the XV Jornada de la Comunitat de pràctica de Prevenció i Mediació Comunitària, focused on the topic of “Youth and Violent Extremism. Approaches from the local level”. The event, which took place on 28 May in Comarruga (Spain), was attended by experts in the field, including the researcher from the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies, Daniel F. Pérez, who addressed the multi-ideological trends of radicalisation from a perspective that connects the global with the local, analysing the preventive role of youth. The mediator Lourdes Soler, from L’Ajuntament de L’Hospitalet, was in charge of presenting the lecture given by the researcher from the Euro-Arab Foundation.

The day also included a dialogue of practical experiences with Hicham Ibn Abdelouahab from the Ali Zaoua Foundation (Casablanca) and Manuel Comeron, head of the Prevention Plan of the city of Liège (Belgium), moderated by Xavier Xarbau from Salt City Council.

In addition, the final product of the Community of Practice (CoP) was presented with the screening of ‘El camí està traçat: Actuem a temps!’, by Fatima Ghailan (Cunit City Council), Laia González (L’Hospitalet de Llobregat City Council), Dani Utge (Vendrell City Council) and the audiovisual team formed by Olivia Paré and Marc Morell. This round table was moderated by Luis Herraiz of Arbúcies Town Council.

The conference was opened by Marc Cerón, Director of CEJFE, Jesús María del Cacho, Director General of Criminal Execution in the Community and Juvenile Justice, and Mariona Figueras, Councillor for Youth of the Vendrell Town Council. Lídia Ayora, Head of the Servei de Mediació i Assessorament Tècnic (SMAT), was in charge of the conclusion.

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IN2PREV-en News Projects

Safeguarding individual rights and freedoms in the face of the security challenge

On 28 April, the third Network Panel Thematic Debate, organised by the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies (FUNDEA) and Innovative Prison Systems (IPS), examined the intersections between migration and security, and the risks of unlawful profiling of refugees and asylum seekers in Europe. This online debate brought together key actors and organisations, including law enforcement, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), as well as experts, to discuss how to prevent radicalisation in a way that does not unduly undermine fundamental rights, including the right to non-discrimination and the right to asylum, in line with the objectives of the IN2PREV project.

To this end, the event benefited from contributions from the International Centre for Counterterrorism, as well as from the Euro-Arab Foundation whose researcher, Lucía Alonso Pérez, provided guidance to help prevent profiling based on discriminatory criteria when conducting risk assessments of violent extremism. The conference concluded with a presentation by the Guardia Civil, which presented the protocols and practices currently applied in Spain to prevent unlawful profiling, followed by an exchange of experiences and reflections with participants from NGOs and law enforcement agencies from across Europe.

About IN2PREV

The European IN2PREV project is a European initiative that started in September 2022 and in which the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies participates as a member, together with partners from Poland, Portugal, Romania, Republic of Moldova, Slovakia and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The aim of the project is to facilitate the integration of refugees and asylum seekers and prevent their radicalisation through early identification of vulnerability risk factors. The successful inclusion of refugees as a way to prevent radicalisation is an issue that, despite its acknowledged importance and growing concern, has not received adequate attention and action, and is often addressed through highly securitarian approaches.

Last March, the project brought a seminar to Bratislava to improve the skills of law enforcement and non-governmental organisations working on the frontline with refugees and asylum seekers in preventing radicalisation. Euro-Arab researcher Lucía Alonso Pérez gave a presentation that explored in depth the practices of preventing violent extremism in order to ensure their compliance with fundamental rights and ethical principles. In her intervention, she addressed issues such as respect for human dignity, the right to non-discrimination and privacy, and the importance of guaranteeing access to international protection. In addition, he stressed the need to implement action protocols that prioritise the protection of the rights of refugees, especially those in vulnerable situations.

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FUNDEA emphasizes ethical and human rights considerations to improve refugee integration

Between the 15th and the 17th January, it took place in Poznan – Poland- the first Capacity Building Training Seminars “Facilitating Refugees and Asylum Seekers’ Integration through Mentoring”, organized as a strategic initiative under the IN2PREV “Law enforcement and community cooperation and training approach to prevent radicalisation by ensuring refugees’ successful inclusion” project.

This 1st 3-day in-person training CBTS was coordinated by the Polish Platform for Homeland Security (PPHS) and the Innovative Prison Systems (IPS) – members of the Consortium – and focused on developing the capacity of participants to promote and foster the successful integration of persons in refugee and asylum seeker-like situations into their host communities, particularly considering their vulnerabilities to being targeted and exploited by radicalising and extremist agents. It counted with the participation of around 45 participants, from 9 European countries: Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

One form of integration is through mentoring. The 1st CBTS provided skills to practically utilise the IN2PREV Mentoring Programme to support persons in refugee and asylum seeker-like situations to foster social inclusion. The implementation of this mentoring programme will last 6 months, from February to July 2025, and that will be organized mainly in the 7 countries of the Consortium partners, which are: Spain, Portugal, Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Romania and Slovakia.

FUNDEA’S participation

In addition to the contribution in the preparation for the training, FUNDEA’s participation was in facilitating three sessions:

  • Ethical and Human Rights compliant Principles for Practitioners, that was facilitated by Rascha Albaba Acosta, Researcher and Project Officer at the foundation, whom provided guidelines for practitioners to implement a human rights-based approach when implementing mentoring programs and in other interventions as well.
  • Refugee and asylum seeker communities’ vulnerabilities to successful integration: The IN2PREV findings, that was facilitated online by Lucia Alonso Pérez, Researcher and Project Officer at the foundation, who presented the key findings of a study that interviewed 32 practitioners and stakeholders to identify common factors, elements and dimensions that may contribute to identifying potential indicators of the procedures and tools developed in Europe to screen radicalisation vulnerabilities among asylum seekers and refugees.
  • Moderation of a panel discussion with practitioners, whom presented their country experiences in the integration of refugees and asylum seekers, and best practices, challenges and lessons learnt to consider when implementing mentoring programmes. The panel discussion was moderated by Rascha Albaba Acosta, Researcher and Project Officer at the foundation.

In addition to FUNDEA participation as a Consortium partner of the IN2PREV project, three Spanish partners participated in the training, as experts in implementing integration approaches with asylum seekers and refugees in Spain, including through mentoring programmes, whom will pilot the IN2PREV mentoring programme with mentees in addition to others.

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EN Interrad News Projects

The Euro-Arab Foundation trains the ‘Guardia Civil’ to Prevent Radicalisation from a Mental Health Perspective

For two days, on December 3rd and 4th, a course on “Assessment of the Risk of Radicalization and Extreme Violence: Indicators in Vulnerable Populations” was held in Madrid. The course was aimed at the Civil Guard in their role as judicial police. The training, inaugurated by Antonio Sánchez, the Executive Secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation, was delivered by experts in the prevention of radicalization, including Javier Ruipérez, Director of the Euro-Arab Research and International Projects Department, and Daniel F. Pérez, a Euro-Arab researcher. It also included expert mental health professionals, Eva Jiménez and Susana Sánchez.

The course focused on enhancing the participants’ ability to prepare robust judicial reports in cases of radicalization and extreme violence. To this end, Euro-Arab experts addressed key issues such as models and theories of radicalization, followed by presentations on risk assessment tools and the factors and indicators that can lead to extremist violence. In addition, practical exercises with real-world cases were conducted to reinforce the acquired knowledge.

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EN Interrad EUKH EN News Projects RADICALIZACION EN

The Euro-Arab Foundation participates in the EUROCRIM Annual Congress with an interdisciplinary panel on policies for the prevention of violent extremism

From September 11 to 14, the Annual Congress of the European Society of Criminology, EUROCRIM, in its twenty-fourth edition, is taking place at the University of Bucharest. The Executive Secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies, Antonio Sanchez, and the Director of Research and Projects of the same, Javier Ruipérez, have participated with the panel Interdisciplinary approaches to radicalization, political violence, and the relationship between terrorism and crime to advance P/CVE (Program for the Prevention and Combating of Violent Extremism).

The panel, moderated by Sánchez, is part of the INTERRAD project whose aim is to contribute to the challenge of Security, Safety and Defense by addressing cooperation in the prevention of violent radicalization of a jihadist nature in the framework of the European Union (EU) through an interdisciplinary perspective. Ruipérez presented an update on P/CVE strategic communications. Other speakers were:

  • Carlos Echeverría Jesús, Professor of Terrorism and International Relations at UNED, who spoke about the role of Daesh and Al-Qaeda as central actors in the expansion of jihadist ideology;
  • Roberto Muelas Lobato, Assistant Professor and Doctor of the University of Burgos in the Area of Social Psychology, and member of the research group Social Inclusion and Quality of Life, who spoke about the side effects of the program for the prevention of violent extremism ‘Fenix Andalucía’; and
  • Salvador Berdún Carrión, PhD in Criminology from the University of Granada and Director of the Department of Studies of ACAIP, who addressed the influence of National Security and terrorism in European Prison Regimes.
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EUKH EN RADICALIZACION EN The Euro-Arab Papers

Radicalisation in prisons analysis of the Escribano operation and prospects for prevention

The Euro-Arab Foundation has taken an in-depth look at Operation Escribano, considered a milestone in the fight against terrorism in Spanish prisons, with a publication that offers an exhaustive analysis of this complex police operation, which is the first conviction for terrorism in the Spanish prison context since 2008 and the first after the reform of the crime of terrorism in 2015. The authors of this analysis, published in a new issue in the Cuadernos de la Euroárabe collection, were: Daniel F. Pérez-García, researcher and head of projects in the area of prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism at the Euro-Arab Foundation, expert in the EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation of the European Commission, where the Euro-Arab Foundation actively participates; Salvador Berdún Carrión, Director of the Studies Department of the Agrupación de Cuerpos de Ayudantes de Instituciones Penitenciarias and Doctor in Criminology; and Javier Ruipérez Canales, Director of the Research and Projects Department of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Doctor in Social Sciences and Director of Strategic Communication of the EU Knowledge Hub.

Analysis of Operation Escribano and prospects for prevention

On 12 February 2024, the 4th Section of the Criminal Division of the National Court issued Sentence number 4/2024, in which it sentenced two inmates to seven years and six months in prison. The defendants, who were already serving sentences for belonging to a terrorist organisation, were tried within the framework of what is known as Operation Escribano, which succeeded in dismantling an entire radicalising structure in Spanish prisons and stands as the largest investigation carried out in Europe into the radicalisation of the Daesh terrorist organisation in prisons. The review of judicial, legislative, academic and strategic documentation in the Euro-Arab publication has been complemented with interviews with the sources of the Guardia Civil police investigation and presents the analysis of the radical networks dismantled in this operation.

The main objective of the analysis is to extract good practices in order to optimise prevention strategies within the prison environment. The recommendations include respect for the guarantee of human rights in judicial processes, in prison treatment and in the assessment of the risk of radicalisation, and the promotion of programmes for the rehabilitation of violent extremism and social and functional reintegration in democratic societies.

The publication (in Spanish) can be downloaded from the Euro-Arab Foundation’s website: https://fundea.org/cuaderno-euroarabe-radicalizacion-en-prisiones/

Radicalisation in prisons analysis of the Escribano operation and prospects for prevention


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The Euro-Arab Foundation and the Iraqi Al Nahrain Center solidify a partnership to exchange knowledge and conduct joint researches

A. Sánchez, secretario ejecutivo de FUNDEA, y Ali Naser Bunya, director general del centro Al Nahrain tras la firma del convenio en la sede de FUNDEA (Granada).
FUNDEA- Al Nahrain Center

The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies has signed this Wednesday a collaboration agreement with the Al-Nahrain Center for Strategic Studies – National Security Consulting, based in Baghdad (Iraq), in order to cooperate and establish productive relationships in different fields of the research undertaken by both institutions.

The Al-Nahrain Centre for Strategic Studies is a research centre sponsored by the Iraqi National Security Council that develops strategic studies responding to the interests, challenges and threats of the Arab country, both at the national level and in the Middle East region.

The meeting took place at the Euro-Arab headquarters, in Granada, where the Iraqi delegation was led by the Director General of the Al-Nahrain Centre for Strategic Studies, the lawyer Ali Naser Bunyan al-Lami, accompanied by the Engineer Director General of the Directorate of Administration and Finance of the Office of the Iraqi National Security Advisor, Hayder Abdulameer Abed al-Yasiri, and the Head of the Department of Social and Psychological Studies of the Al-Nahrain Centre for Strategic Studies, Shatha Kadhim , and the official liaison of the European Union Consultative Mission in Iraq, Marwah Dallyousif.

The meetings between both institutions, which lasted two days, were also attended by an official from the Directorate General for Home Affairs (DG Home) of the European Commission.

The executive secretary of the Euro-Arab Foundation, Antonio J. Sánchez Ortega, stated that this agreement “consolidates our presence in the MENA region and in Iraq, where understanding the current security and prevention conditions is crucial.” Sánchez has expressed his satisfaction at the establishment of this link with an Iraqi center – he said – “so prestigious that it houses ten different research departments. Without a doubt, both institutions will benefit from this collaboration.”

The memorandum includes among its objectives the exchange of research and studies, as well as books, statistics and other types of information arising from their respective work. The Euro-Arab Foundation and the Al-Nahrain Centre will work together on projects that are characterised by their strategic and topical dimensions, or those related to public policies. In terms of scientific dissemination and training, the agreement covers joint research or studies, as well as the organisation of workshops, seminars and conferences in areas of common interest or the joint publication of books and publications.

“This agreement is part of the objectives of our centre, which are based on the directives of the advisor to the Iraqi National Security Board and which consist of establishing relations with different centres dedicated to research and cultural dissemination,” explained the director general of the Al Nahrain centre, Ali Naser Bunyan. “The Euro-Arab Foundation not only addresses these aspects -he added- but it also works to strengthen dialogue with the Arab world, of which Iraq is a part.“

The programme of activities included the presentation of the Euro-Arab Foundation’s research, cultural and training activities, such as the new Diploma in Environmental Management and Social Responsibility or the Diploma in Management of Non-Profit Entities or Endowment Management (awqaf) for Saudi students. Likewise, several of the research projects in which Euro-Arab is involved in different areas were presented: prevention of radicalisation and violent extremism, fight against hate speech and hate crimes, protection of places of worship of different faiths, dismantling of human trafficking networks or socio-educational interventions, among others.

As part of the extensive programme of activities, the visiting delegation was able to learn first-hand about the Joint Centre University of Granada – Army Training and Doctrine Command with a visit to the MADOC, where they were able to learn more about its activities at national level. The programme included cultural activities, such as a visit to La Madraza, the cultural centre of the University of Granada (https://lamadraza.ugr.es/).

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We participate in the RAN YOUNG meeting where youth take the floor to confront polarisation and hate speeches

The third meeting of the RAN Practitioners Young Platform, the platform of young people, experts on radicalisation and prevention of the European Commission’s Radicalisation Awareness Network, took place in Zagreb (Croatia) on 2nd and 3rd May. Among the participants was Euro-Arab Foundation researcher Daniel Pérez García who together with the other young people explored the local impact of global challenges, such as war and international conflicts, on European youth and created proposals to mitigate the different repercussions on themselves and their communities.

Daniel Pérez García, researcher at the Euro-Arab Foundation, participates in RAN Young Practitioners

The recommendations revolved around four themes: mental health, polarisation, hate speech and hate crime. The Euro-Arab researcher was part of the hate crime group, which addressed how hate speech and hate crimes can precede atrocities, including genocide, or the use of social media and digital platforms as facilitators of the spread of hate.

The meeting concluded that hate speech, along with misinformation, leads to stigmatisation, discrimination and violence on a large scale, and emphasised the need not to underestimate the influence of global conflicts on individuals that can even lead to collective trauma.

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EN PARTES News Projects

The PARTES consortium meets in Brussels to exchange achievements and learnings

The entities associated in PARTES, the European project that seeks to protect places of worship, met on April 22nd and 23rd in Brussels in order to share the lessons learned and achievements reached so far. The Euro-Arab Foundation for Higher Studies is part of it and its researcher, José Luis Salido Medina, coordinated the PARTES Conference held in Melilla in March, which brought together representatives of different religious confessions.

Our reasearcher attended both, the workshop on April 22, and the Steering Committee on the 23rd. The workshop discussed the current challenges and issues that places of worship are facing. It also addressed the importance of bridging the communication gaps that may exist between the various religious communities and between them and the authorities. On its part, the fourth meeting of the PARTES Steering Committee was held to evaluate the work of the project over the past four months, identify key issues for discussion and develop a collaborative plan for the coming months.

Currently, the PARTES consortium is compiling local communication and security strategies to protect places of worship in ten European Union countries.